Textured effects in tufted rugs and carpets are created by the use of designs which intermingle cut pile and loop pile effects frequently. It is therefore desirable to be able to automatically and quickly switch between cut and loop pile when producing tufted rugs and carpets.
Also desirable is the ability to be able to tuft different colour areas in the same design. It is for this reason that broadloom type multi-needle tufting machines are undesirable. Broadloom type multi-needle tufting machines typically use a row of several hundred needles to insert row after row of tufts simultaneously into backing fabric which is drawn continuously passed them. These machines are restricted in being able to tuft different colour areas since each needle is threaded with one specific colour for the entire deign and as the machine tufts row by row from bottom to top of the tuft, the tuft locations of each needle always have the same colour.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,218,987 describes a tufting machine which is guided automatically via a computer controlled machine using vector based design definition and which is able to automatically switch between cut pile and loop pile in a given design. The machine is further able to automatically raise the foot and operate the yarn cutter at the ends of a section of loop pile so that it can then traverse to another disconnected section of the design. Such a machine ensures correct registration of adjacent tufts having different coloured threads.
To further stimulate interest and sales, rug designers are looking for new design techniques and methods of tufting rugs. Accordingly it is desirable to produce multi-coloured tufted rugs having variable pile height. To accentuate colour boundaries on cut pile tufted rugs, the edge between bordering colours may be bevelled into a V-shape. This process is performed manually with a hand held carving tool after having completed tufting of the rug. However it is a highly skilled labour intensive process, is prone to errors and is often prohibitively expensive.
It has not been possible using known machinery to tuft different colour areas in a single design with gradual changes in pile height to produce three dimensional sculpting using loop and/or cut pile.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.